Inline packaged ICs are usually retained between elongated inner and outer channel surfaces of an IC shipping cartridge. The cartridge is closed at each end so that the ICs are contained. Removal of an end closure permits withdrawal of ICs from the cartridge one after the other, or permits insertion of ICs into the cartridge one after the other. One typical closure method is that of pinning the ends of the cartridge closed. At each end of the cartridge a closure pin is inserted through a pair of holes formed in the inner and outer channels so that, each pin extends across an end opening of the cartridge. Preferably, the holes are so placed that, when the cartridge is fully loaded, the ICs along with a reslient spacer occupy slightly more space than that available between the pairs of holes. Thus, to insert the second one of the pins, the ICs must become pressed against the first pin at the far end of the cartridge sufficiently to compress the spacer and remove the last IC from the space between the second pair of holes. When the second pin is inserted in the second pair of holes the ICs are tightly retained between the pins by the resilient spacer. It is typical that the pin includes an elongated body or shaft terminated at one end by a head portion and terminated at the other end by a flexible tip formation of greater cross-section than the body or shaft of the pin. The pin is inserted by first pressing the tip through the hole in the outer channel and secondly through the aligned hole in the inner channel, all the while maintaining the ICs and the spacer under pressure until the head of the pin is firmly seated against the outer channel. At first this operation may require a few attempts by a person before it is mastered. This is because of the manual dexterity required to simultaneously maintain sufficient pressure against the ICs while applying sufficient force to seat the pin home. Of course a manufacturer of ICs will typically employ a fully automated machine process to fill and thereafter pin cartridges closed in preparation for shipping to any of a multitude of circuit board assemblers or IC vendors.
Cartridges of ICs are received, for example, at the manufacturing facility of an assembler. An assembler may use the ICs directly for insertion via automatic insertion equipment, or the assembler may first subject each individual IC to a test routine, to determine the operational quality and apparent serviceability of each IC, before committing it to a circuit board assembly or the like. If the latter practice is followed, the ICs must be unloaded from the cartridge before testing, and thereafter, those ICs found to be acceptable are reloaded, and the cartridge is re-closed prior to delivery to the appropriate automatic insertion machine. Unless the assembler is accustomed to using tremendously high volumes of the ICs there is little or no economy in acquiring an automatic cartridge loading and closing machine similar to that employed by the IC manufacturer. Consequently, these functions are usually performed manually. Over the years, some persons active in the repeated performance of unloading, testing and reloading of the ICs have been known to suffer painful abrasions, blisters and occasional bleeding of thumbs and fingers. The common solution to these problems is to rotate personnel to distribute exposure to the physically stressful loading chore among the immediate working staff. Also the use of some protective means which will not seriously affect the persons dexterity has been employed. For example, adhesive plastic strips judiciously placed on thumbs and fingers have been found to provide short-term protection.